Swimming shoe



A. WEIMER SWIMMING" SHOE May 2, 1933.

Filed Oo'i. 28, 1931 INVENTOR A.%imer 22 Y ms ATTORNEY Patented May 2, 1933 ANDREWW IMER, on NEW 31631:, N. Y

SWIMMING SHOE Applicationfiled October '28, 193;. Serial No. 571,501

The main object of this invention is to provide a device which is adapted to be strapped to the foot of a bather or swimmer and serves as a swimming shoe to ropel the body thru the water in a more e cient manner. a

Another object of this invention is to provide a swimming shoe which is equipped with hinged fins which are adapted to fold when pulling the foot forward, and are.

spread when the foot is thrust rearward.

The above and other objects will become apparent in the description below in which] characters of reference refer to like-named parts in the drawing. e

Referring briefly to the drawing,Figure 1 is a top plan view of the swimming shoe. Figure 2 is a side elevational view of Fig ure 1. I Figure 3 is a cross sectional viewof the swimming shoe taken on line 3 -3 of Figure 1. i

Figurel is a perspective view lookingat the bottom of the swimming shoe. I

Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional elevational view of the rib showing the spreader latch of the shoe. I

Referring in detail tothe drawing, the numeral indicates a foot support plate which has a contour similar to the "outline of a foot. A longitudinal rib 11 is securely fastened to this plate on the underside there- 7 of. At. the front of the plate toe'straps 12 are secured while at the rear of the plate heel harness straps 13 are anchored. xThe face let of the foot plate assumes an inclined position and is raised at the heel" 15 thereof so that the swimming shoe assumes, an angle while'being worn. v

The rib. 11 serves as an anchoring member for a pair of flat fins 16 and 17 which are bounded by a rim 18. At the positions where the straight edges 20 of the fins meet the rims the latter are cut away on an angle, as indicated by the numeral. 19. The fins 16 and 17 are provided with hinge sleeves 21 which receive hinge pins 22, the latter being secured to the sides of the ribs '11.

Intermediate its length the rib 11 is pro-- vided with a recess 23 in which a lever 24 is housed: Said lever is pivoted on a pin 25 and the lever is adaptedto. be swung outwardly to lie in supporting position beneath said fins. In av chamber of the ribadjacent said pin: a resilient finger 26 is mounted. p I

Said finger has a ball 28 mounted thereon which is received in a detent 27 formed in thelever 24- The device is used as a moreeflicient propulsion means for swimmers or'the like.-

The user stands on the foot plates 10 with the fins 16 and 17 in spread position. These fins are retained in that position by rotating the lever 24 to tlieposition shown in Figure 4. In the process of swimming whenmoving the foot forward thefins are rotated about the hinges 21 to the foldedposition. I As the stroke is reversed and the foot is' thrust rearward the rims 18 of the fins form water pockets and cause said fins to move to the spread position. The fins in the spread position will then propel the swimmer forward at a greater speed than would be-possible without the device. Itis to be'noted-that certain changes in form and construction may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

Ina swimming shoe, a foot support plate, so a. longitudinal rib fastened to said plate, oppositely disposed fins having hinge sleeves formed thereon, hinge pins secured to said rib receiving said hinge sleeves, a bounding rim on said fins, said rib having a recess therein, a lever pivoted on said rib positioned in said recess, said lever being adapted to be rotated to' retain said fins in spread position to permit walking, and means for securing said lever in inactive position in the recess.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ANDREW WEIMER. 

